I’ve seen a significant number of articles and posts lately that assert:
“AI adoption isn’t a technology problem,” it’s a …
Strategy
Leadership
People
Change
Operating model
Organizational design
Training
Behavior / habit formation
Value realization
ROI
Trust
Data
Governance
… problem.
No kidding. We’re just figuring this out now? 🙄
I mean, seriously … anyone who has ever been responsible for, part of, or in the general proximity of a major technology project knows that the technology is always the easiest part.
So I’m kind of lol-ing every time I see this shared as some newfound insight—like it’s new in the world or just started occurring with AI.
It’s not, and it didn’t.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
We’ve got to stop chasing shiny pennies and doing tech for tech’s sake…. Technology isn’t a strategy unto itself. Neither is AI.
The strategy is and always should be an organizational one—one that technology may enable or support.
Read more in: AI Isn’t The Problem
But also …
In this case it is a technology problem, too. AI is wonky and imperfect and still very much in its infancy.
If you’re at all familiar with technology adoption curves, you’ve probably seen Gartner’s hype cycle. If I had to place AI on that curve, I’d say we’re currently fluctuating between the Peak of Inflated Expectations (and whoa, are they inflated!) and the Trough of Disillusionment, and likely will be for a while:
This is normal. It’s following a well-documented and established pattern for technology adoption.
We don’t always know how long it’ll take for any particular technology to traverse this curve, but we know it almost always will.
The bottom line
AI will not save the world nor will it be our demise.
It will persist, however, and one day in the not-too-distant future we will not know a world without it embedded in every aspect of our lives.
Until then, stay focused on the fundamentals—strategy, leadership, and people—while remaining open to the possibilities that a new technology can create.
Bonus read: As we shape what this new technology will become, it is more important than ever that we consider whose voices and perspectives are leading that charge.
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